The US Privacy Pulse: Beyond the Status Quo

I spent the last two months in our New York City headquarters as part of my new role as CA's Global Chief Privacy Strategist. This function was created in addition to our Chief Privacy Officer, who is leading the charge on our privacy compliance efforts globally. I am primarily focused on ensuring the company has a clear view and voice on the important issues around privacy, and more broadly, trust in technology. It also enables me to engage in a wide range of discussions with customers, partners, and press.

Before I head back home to Brussels, I wanted to share some of my observations around the US privacy landscape. But, let me start by answering a question I have heard a couple of times while here:

Why Is CA Investing in This?

In my interactions with stakeholders, the question arose as to why CA, as a B2B company, thinks it is necessary to make these investments. As a B2B organization, we clearly are not in the same position as those companies that directly host a wide range of consumer data. However, we do manage data that is entrusted to us by our employees and by people that express an interest in trying or buying our products. Our customers entrust us with their customers' data when they use our SaaS products. We know we have a duty to be a good custodian of all of this data. Because of this, we need to earn and maintain the trust of all of our data stakeholders on a daily basis. And, if we fail to earn and keep that trust, they won't do business with us. That is why CA is making these investments; that is why our CEO and other executives are speaking up.; that is why I have been engaging with a range of stakeholders in the US to get "the privacy pulse" in the States. Here are some of my observations: